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Jerry
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# Posted: 30 Jan 2011 11:35am
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Hi all. Here's the scenario I'm dealing with. I was building a cabin on a secluded 80 acre natural environment lake. By this I mean a very shallow, weedy body of water that teams with wildlife and fish, but there's no swimming or water activities other than canoeing, kayaking, etc. My 43 acres are within one of the prime birding areas of Minnesota. I love the peace and quiet as there are only seven cabins on the lake and most owners are seldom there. One of our yearly highlights is gathering and processing wild rice at the end of August/early September, and of course, the hunting seasons.
About five years ago I purchased the neighbors cabin which has a great view - a little better than the cabin I am still building - and somewhat better access to the water. It's a two bedroom cabin that we're using as our primary get away, but that means our time and funds are now divided between both places and only one is really being used. Naturally I'd like to keep them both, I'd buy up the whole lake if I could, but even keeping both properties isn't practical.
Soooo, here's a question for those of you who have either considered renting their cabin to offset the cost of ownership, or have actually done so.
Basically - is it worth it, or is it more trouble than it's worth? Hidden expenses? How do you begin - advertising, etc? Did you find a demand at the price you asked/ I should add that I'm retired and could spend time there and even do some amount of guiding, say for birders. My other option is to just sell the latest property, but obviously once I did that it would be gone forever and I'd forever regret it (I think).
That's my question for you - is it worth trying? I think so, but I need to learn more about the pros and cons before I proceed.
Thanks for any constructive comments.
Jerry
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teakboat
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# Posted: 30 Jan 2011 03:00pm
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If hunting is permitted there, and you are not opposed to hunting there for any of several possible reasons, you could almost for sure rent it as a hunting cabin with a hunting lease. I could understand you not wanting your local wildlife killed.
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bugs
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2011 11:27am
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Hi Jerry
An interesting dilemma.
Sounds like you have a very nice location. In my opinion the more land the better to buffer you from your neighbours and any developments they may do that could infringe on the enjoyment of your piece of paradise. And of course more land means more area for you to "stroll about the grounds".
If you did keep both properties and used one cabin for renting out to interested parties would that not be considered a commercial venture by the local gov't and subject to a much higher taxation as such? However if you could figure out how to advertise informally and rent informally (cash only comes to mind) maybe you could sneak under the radar.
Anyway hope you can work something out. It would be a shame for you to have to give up one or the other tracts of land.
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cabinbasics
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2011 04:36pm
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Hmmm,
Not sure about the commercial value downside of renting, but you might be able to write off every trip up there - travel expense, improvements, etc, - even if you only rented it out minimally.
I did take a look at an investment prop once with renting, and to make a go of it I would have had to rent at least 6 months out of the year - summer and snow mobile season. But that depends on the mortgage, etc.
Might be good to make a spreadsheet of known costs, then plug in rental income levels to figure out your break-even. If you only need a month or two of rentals to pay the bills - perfect.
Regarding hunters, you could advertise as just a nice quiet place for couples or young familes who just enjoy the woods and water. Definitely friends and family is the first way to go, then real estate agent if you're serious.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 7 Feb 2011 03:28pm
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With good hunting grounds, hunter's will come and spend the $$$$............i make several out of state hunting trips a year and i don't mind spending $$$$ if the game and lodging is there. Sounds like you have the perfect setup.
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